Eagle Eye Cherry (Death & Co. Recipe)

I loved the taste of this cocktail. I was worried it would be too sweet, like a cordial, or too fruity as its name suggests. I was wrong. The flavor was more bitter and Manhattan-like than rum and sherry cocktail. This is because of many small touches in the recipe that keep the drinker's interest with their bitter notes holding down the sweetness of rum and cherry liqueur. 

These bitter elements were my homemade cherry blossom bitters--still going strong--and Suze gentian spirit (in addition to a hearty sweet vermouth like Cocchi Dopo Teatro). 

One note about the chocolate flavors in this cocktail: I was unsure what substitute to use for Alchemia chocolate vodka (1/4 oz. in the original recipe). I don't have it and I wasn't sure that coco whiskey or chocolate mole bitters would be the right substitute. I almost used Godiva dark chocolate liqueur, but reasoned that it would make the cocktail cloudy. I opted for creme de cacao, which in such small proportions was unlikely to add too much sugar.

• 2 oz. Flor de Cana 7-year rum (George Bowman used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. Alvear Festival Pale Cream Sherry (Alexandro Amontillado used)
• 1/2 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
• 1/4 oz. Alchemia chocolate vodka (creme de cacao used)
• 1/2 tsp. Suze
  
• 1 tsp. Antica Formula vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)
• dash cherry blossom bitters
• orange twist
• brandied cherry (Luxardo used)

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a port glass and twist the orange zest over it. Garnish with the cherry on a cocktail pick. 

 

Bristow Sling (Original Recipe)

 

This is what happens when you grab a flavored whiskey and just wing it with things you have on hand. I'm talking about the Sling and how the sling is one of the oldest cocktails around, yet we often overlook it as an easy formula that will please bargoers. 

So this whiskey sling is using naturally-flavored MurLarkey lemon whiskey, which is just dried lemons soaked in the barrel with their Justice white whiskey. The rest of this sling's ingredients are pretty standard, with Cherry Heering, lime juice and soda being the main ones. I changed things up by adding my own Mandarine Napoleon liqueur to add more richness from the cognac spirit and the spices and orange notes that it provides. 

• 1 1/2 oz. MurLarkey lemon whiskey 
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
  
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (homemade) liqueur
• club soda
  
• luxardo cherry and lime slice garnish

Combine all ingredients except soda and garnishes in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled highball glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and stir gently. Add garnishes to the top of the glass.

Bloomsbury Blast

 

This is one of those kitchen sink fortified wine cocktails that sneaks up on you. I'm not sure if it is named after the early 20th century artistic movement in Britain or if it is more centered on the town of the same name, but I can see a cocktail like this being popular about an hundred years ago. 

There's not a lot of interest in overloading drinkers with rich sherry and vermouth flavors now. Even with the cocktail revival that brought back vermouth, we tend to appreciate stand-out ingredients without crowding a cocktail with more than one. I mean, Cherry Herring, curacao, creme de cacao, and gin all have a way of dominating. That means that this recipe is somewhat less than the sum of its parts, for what its worth. 

On the other hand, there is something liberating about throwing together hefty doses of sherry and vermouth in what is already a legally maxed out spirits drink. Then you get to enjoy an easy drinking cocktail in a large wine glass and experience how it kicks your butt as you dive deeper and deeper into its rich depths. I hope that this sells the cocktail to some of my readers. We all have open bottles of sherry, and you have to use them.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Vitae Old Tom used)
• 1 1/2 oz. medium sherry (Amontillado used)
• 1/2 tsp. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 tsp. dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz. curacao
• 1/4 oz. cherry brandy (Herring used)
• 1/4 oz. creme de cacao
• 1 oz. lemon or lime juice

Combine all ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend and pour into a large wine glass. 

Dante (Lee Spirit's Forbidden Fruit Recipe)

 

This is an original cocktail offered by Lee Spirits, makers of Forbidden Fruit for the first time since the more than a century-old recipe disappeared. Here, though, I'm making use of my own forbidden fruit.

I like that this is both a light citrus and gin drink sweetened by cherry and more citrus, which comes from the Cheery Heering and Forbidden Fruit, respectively. Forbidden Fruit adds both bitter grapefruit and pomelo peel as well as a good heap of orange blossom honey. The effect is similar to a Bee's Knees but with lime juice and cherry flavors. 

Overall, it doesn't come across as rich or sweet, but a bit on the tart and dry side. The richness comes in the aftertaste, which is experienced as honeyed fruits and berries, including juniper from the gin. I went with a dry gin like Bulldog to ensure that the juniper notes would not be buried by the other ingredients, and I rather liked it.

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin (Bulldog used)
• 1/4 oz. Cherry Herring
• 1/4 oz. Forbidden Fruit (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• maraschino cherry garnish

Combine all ingredients except cherry in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. spear the cherry (the drink is cloudy and obscures sunken fruit) with a cocktail pick and use for garnish. 

Swizzles (Jumbly Jolt/ Skye Swizzel)

I've seen this recipe before. A combination of rum, scotch and gin as a swizzle with lime juice? That's a Skye Swizzle. The proportions are a little different, and not to this example's betterment. I ended up with a little too much ice and not enough liquid to spread around. That is perfectly fine, but I'd like the recipe to reflect that an indicate an Old Fashioned glass as the proper container. 

Like all swizzles, you need plenty of crushed ice on hand before you start mixing. I found that freezing the glass first and choosing a glass with thin walls to be very helpful. I tied on the napkin wrap (like my chicken?) first before freezing the glass so that I could take the glass out and start building the cocktail in it. Otherwise, it might be smart to chill the liquids in a shaker. But either way, put the wrap on before you start building the drink.

One final note: I chose my Dutch courage gin for the gin in this cocktail and greatly improved it over past examples that used dry gins. Look for an Old Tom style or Dutch genever like Bols to get the desired effect. My hope was that if all the spirits shared a barreling process, the flavors would come together better. I wasn't wrong!

• 1/2 oz. scotch (Teacher's used)
• 1/2 oz. Jamaican rum (Barbancourt Haitian used)
• 1/2 oz. gin (homemade Dutch courage gin used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. sweet vermouth
• 1 tsp. cherry brandy (Cherry Herring used)
• maraschino cherry garnish

Build the drink in a frozen Collins glass (Old Fashioned with thin walls is preferable if you have one). Add all ingredients except for the cherry garnish and top with crushed ice. Using a swizzle stick, stir to chill the ingredients while melting the ice. As the liquor dilutes and the liquid level rises, add more ice and continue stirring until the glass is frosty and the cocktail is cooled. Add a straw and garnish with a cherry. 

Piscadera Bay

Piscadera Bay is is a beautiful waterway on the island of Curacao. Indeed, I'm sad I didn't have curacao for this cocktail (except for the blue stuff) so I used triple sec. I'm not sure how the ingredients of this cocktail correspond with an island among the Dutch Antilles, but the main thing about the Piscadera Bay is that it is loaded with spices.

Take a spicy rum (Jamaican if you have it) but make sure it is aged and funky. I'll use my Guyana navy rum, Pussers. Add sweet cherry liqueur, clove-heavy Angostura bitters, and cinnamon and ginger of falernum. Then only cut that with a half ounce of lime juice. There's no protecting you from the richness of this cocktail that might overwhelm the senses--and it does in the sense that you can close your eyes and imagine yourself at a beachside tiki hut--but it's all part of the experience. 

Thankfully a few things help balance the entire drink. That Cherry Herring has a way of tasting exotic and not at all like cherry when used in such a small amount. The sweetnes balances the lime juice considerably. My homemade falernum is a touch on the sweet side as well because I made it with brown sugar. This also helps tame the bitterness and tartness and center the drink closer to baking spices. Think gingerbread cookies and citrus zest!

• 1 1/2 oz. Jamaican rum (Pussers Navy Rum used)
• 1/2 oz. curacao (triple sec used)
  
• 1/2 oz. falernum (homemade batch used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. Cherry Brandy (Cherry Herring used)
• dash Angostura bitters
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine all liquid  ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with fruit

 

Danish Manhattan

Okay! I get it. Peter Heering was a Danish liqueur producer (though now his cherry liqueur is made in Sweeden). So I understand the temptation to take a whiskey cocktail and name it a Manhattan even though there is no vermouth and no bitters. The concept is good, but it doesn't taste too much like a Manhattan after all is said and done.

Seagrams 7 Crown is so mellow and Cherry Herring is so sweet, I am unable to find that bite we usually associate with a Manhattan. In keeping with the cherry theme, there's a bit of kirsch here, which does provide a little alcoholic traction, that trenchant fruit brandy flavor that is usually associated with grapa. It's not a bad drink, but maybe a little bit unnecessary. And if I'm feeling that about the name, then maybe a new name is all the Danish Manhattan needs--and maybe some cherry bitters!

• 1 1/2 oz. blended whiskey (Seagram's 7 Crown used)
• 1/4 oz. kirschwasser (Kammer Kirsch used)
• 1/4 oz. Cherry Heering

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Poolabanga Sling

A tropical Sling, very much like the Singapore Sling, is a fizzy and fruity cocktail that is easy to drink on a hot day. The substitution of aged rum and falernum made me want to put it in a tiki mug--and that's a good impulse. Slings aren't especially pretty in clear glasses, the Herring and lime juice tend to make them look a little brown. The glass itself, then becomes the decoration. Just be sure to pick a large glass because a lot of tiki mugs don't have room to top with soda.

• 1 1/2 oz. aged rum (Vitae Barrel Aged used)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. falernum (homemade used)
• tsp. cherry brandy (Herring used)
• club soda
• mint sprigs

Combine all ingredients except soda and mint in a blender with ice. Flash blend and pour into a highball or tiki mug. Top with soda and garnish with mint.

Candy Pants

Sometimes an easy to drink Whiskey Sour is just what you need. Sometimes Seagram's 7 Crown is the perfect initiation to whiskey cocktails. That is the case with the Candy Pants. It's used as an insult: someone is "candy pants" if they can't handle something challenging. A cocktail is "candy pants" for those noobs who whine when they can actually taste booze in their drink. This cocktail is a little about both.

Cherry brandy is a cheap way to sweeten a cocktail and cover over boozy flavors. I don't use cheap cherry brandy. I use Heering.

• 1 1/2 oz. blended whiskey (Seagram's 7 Crown used)
• 1/2 oz. cherry brandy (Heering used)
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• dash sugar syrup (optional for those really needing a sweet drink)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

The Vulgar Boatman

I kind of like when cocktail names get corrupted and a new idea springs forth. It starts with a guest mis-hearing the name of the drink (the Harvey Wallbanger) and asking for it wrong the rest of the night No one corrects them and suddenly regulars are flocking to try this new cocktail (The Wally Harvbanger.)

This cocktail is a little more Eurocentric than the Volga Boatman, it's originator. There's German kirschwasser, Swedish cherry liqueur and Polish vodka, Italian vermouth, as well as orange bitters. This drink is richer than the Volga Boatman, and much less juicy. Orange his hinted at with the bitters, not the juice itself.

• 1 1/2 oz. vodka (Belvedere used)
• 3/4 oz. cherry liqueur (Cherry Herring used)
• 1/4 oz. dry vermouth (Antica dry used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice 
• 1/4 tsp. kirsch (Kammer kirsch used)
• dash of orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass 

Amer Picon Cooler

I love that this is even an idea: a Gin Fizz with cherry Heering and Amer Picon, bitter and sweet, is the perfect spring afternoon cocktail.

Amer Picon is still unavailable in the U.S. and even the version they make in France is not the same as it was when it was used in classic cocktails. This is my homemade recipe that tastes pretty close to what I had in Paris.

• 1 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Amer Picon
• 1/2 oz. cherry herring
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• club soda
• orange slice (optional)

Combine the first five ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and stir. (If you use an orange slice, cut it in half and put a notch on one end to allow you to stick it on the glass rim. I used a blood orange!)

Danish Gin Fizz

Cherry Heering, originating in Denmark, makes this Fizz "Danish." The kirschwasser, however is German. And despite that kirsh and Heering are both cherry flavor, the latter is sweetened while the former is dry and made from distilled fermented cherry juice.

This cocktail is rich and colorful--a good spring weather sipper. Fans of Collins or Singapore Slings will appreciate the similarity.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination used
• 3/4 oz. cherry Heering
• 1/4 oz. kirsch (Kammer Kirsch used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/ 2 oz. sugar syrup
• club soda
• lime slice

Combine the first five ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and stir. Garnish with the lime slice. 

Swedish Lullaby

This cocktail sounds like it is a dessert drink or a nightcap. It is a lot more than that, and I think of it as a perfect accompaniment to the cherry blossom season or spring in general.

The Lullaby packs a one-two punch of Swedish ingredients and it just might put you to sleep. Swedish punsch is a rum-based liqueur with clove, cardamon and lemon that is very balanced. Lemon juice adds tartness. The whole thing is rounded with the nutty and dark cherry tasting Herring liqueur.

• 1 1/2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade recipe used)
• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (I think a cherry blossom or other flower garnish is appropriate with this drink.)

Eric The Red

I've done this cocktail before, but I wanted to return to it with a single malt that is better balanced. I especially liked Highland Park Spirit of the Bear bottling for cocktails. It is fitting to use the distillery that brands itself as the viking scotch for a drink commemorating a viking.

This drinks is rich, but better balanced than the Red Dane (following post) because of the dry vermouth that gives it space and the fact that scotch, especially a single malt like Orkney Highland Park is pretty balanced to begin with. Add to that the high proportion of scotch versus the rest of the ingredients and you have a cocktail that is great and difficult to mess up.

• 1 1/2 oz. scotch (Highland Park Spirit of the Bear used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1 tsp. dry vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass with a large cube (or any fresh ice).

Red Dane

This simple drink lives up to its name: it is red and Cherry Heering was invented by a Dane, Peter Heering. It is now produced in Sweden, but who's checking.

Anyway, the idea is simple. This is a black cherry tasting vodka cocktail. It goes without saying that if you like Heering liqueur, you will like this drink because it proofs up the Heering and produces even more volume. I can't help but think that it would be better balanced with lemon juice, but that's a different drink.

• 2 oz. vodka (MurLarkey Divine Clarity used)
• 1 oz. Peter Heering

Combine both ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Nightmare and Nightmare Abbey (Revisited)

Nightmare: 

The Nightmare cocktail with its unusual mix of gin, Madiera and cherry brandy rises again from the recesses of lost cocktail lore. I've found no mention as to why the drink has this name. Nor is there a satisfying origin story that explains the darkness of this creation. For this iteration, I modernized it a little and tried to fit it into a Halloween theme.

The Nightmare is good; a wine and rich cherry brandy-forward kind of drink provided you use a dry gin like Roku as I did. This is a modern tasting gin with green tea and cherry blossom flavors. These play well with the aromatics of the drink. I also decided that the teaspoon of orange juice gave me license to make a bat-shaped orange twist garnish. This isn't hard with a little artistic vision and a sharp knife. I might have gotten carried away, but I encourage you to do so as well. It's not everyday we get to enjoy a nightmare.

• 2 oz. gin (Roku used)
• 1 oz. Madeira (a rainwater medium recommended)
• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1 tsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
• bat-shaped orange zest

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir (yes, Stir! This drink looks better without cloudiness of shaking) and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the bat-shaped zest.

Nightmare Abbey:

It stands to reason that the unusual addition of Madiera in a drink like the Nightmare would have a derivative using Dubonnet Rouge, the bittersweet French wine aperitif with the bold red color. This drink very nearly approximates a mashup of the Abbey cocktail and the Nightmare but uses the Dubonnet in place of the Lillet Blanc.

It also turns out that this drink might be named after the 19th century Gothic comedy novel by the same name. There's something appropriate about a rich, red cherry and wine cocktail. Here, MurLarkey's ImaGination, even in its small proportion, stands out as herbaceous and bitter behind all that sweetness. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
• 1 oz. gin (ImaGination used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering 
• 1 oz. orange juice (pulp free recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Stirrup Cup

The idea of the Stirrup Cup goes back to drinking at the village in the days of horse travel. A drinker, probably a big spender, finishes up a session of drinking and requires help getting on his horse. Once his feet are in the stirrups, he is given a combination of liquors that he had been drinking already in a cup of booze that will ensure he is done with drinking for the night. He passes out in the saddle and the horse takes him home.

A main ingredient in Stirrup Cup cocktails is brandy, and I just got a bottle of Asbach--not cognac--to try with it. Cherry Heering is a rich black cherry liqueur, and it is sweet enough to balance an equal portion of lemon juice.

• 2 oz. brandy (Asbach Uralt used)
• 1 1/2 oz. cherry brandy (Cherry Heering used)
• 1 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. 

Champagne Punch

(Photo by Ned Drummond)

This is a reasonably sized punch for a small gathering, and a really good use of sparkling wine and spirits to produce a strong and balanced communal drink. The photo I used is a half portion, so it doesn't fill the bowl completely. But it was the perfect amount for three big drinkers. The full-size punch makes 15 servings.

• 1 cup cognac (Mewkow used)
• 1 cup cherry liqueur (Cherry Heering used)
• 1 cup triple sec (Cointreau used)
• 1/4 cup sugar syrup
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 bottles (750 ml.) Champagne or sparkling wine (Korbel brut used)

Combine juice, spirits and sugar in a bowl and refrigerate up to two hours before serving. Fill with large cakes of ice (snack bags filled with water and frozen beforehand are great.) Add Champagne and stir when ready to serve.

Pink Lemonade

Pink Lemonade is a flavored vodka and lemonade drink. The New York Bartender's Guide suggests maraschino liqueur, but the better maraschino cherry liqueurs are colorless and will not make the drink pink as its name suggests. Cherry Heering is the obvious solution to this problem. It does make the drink a red-pink color and really increases the amount of alcohol in the drink.

• 2 oz. vodka (Divine Clarity used)
• 1 oz. maraschino liqueur (Cherry Heering used)
• lemonade

 Combine vodka and liqueur in a Collins glass full of ice. Top with lemonade and stir.

Cherry Daiquiri

There's not much more to this cocktail than the original Daiquiri, but what a difference it makes. The recipe calls for cherry liqueur, and black cherry Heering fits the bill. There's also a dash .25 tsp. of kirschwasser, which seems unnecessary but adds that dry fug of a clear and strong (and rum-like) brandy to elevate flavors above the expected sweetness.

• 2 oz. light rum 
• 1/2 oz. cherry liqueur
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. kirschwasser
• lime twist

Combine all ingredients except lime twist in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime twist.